Baystate Roads Program

Projects and Services

Enter Title

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) Office of Transportation Planning Research Section oversees the Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP), known as the Baystate Roads Program (BSR), for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The University of Massachusetts Transportation Center at the University of Massachusetts conducts the BSR Program for MassDOT through an agreement with the Office of Transportation Planning.

Local Technical Assistance Program

The BSR Program is the Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP) in Massachusetts. The BSR Program is a conduit for information transfer on technologies, best practices and methodologies for operating, maintaining and managing municipal Departments of Public Works and Highway Departments throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Program also serves as an efficient communications network, by which MassDOT transfers policy information, engineering directives and other updates to the 351 municipalities in the Commonwealth.

The BSR Program embraces new technologies, constantly reinforces its focus on relationships, and uses the concept of continuous quality improvement to improve: the quality of municipal assets, the effective delivery of customer services and overall operational efficiency of municipal public works. The BSR Program does not simply teach, but leads municipalities toward new technologies and methods that can improve their operations.

Vision

The vision for Baystate Roads is to improve the quality and safety of Massachusetts municipal roadways through interactive relationships and information exchange.

Mission

It is the mission of Baystate Roads to foster a safe, efficient, and environmentally sound municipal transportation system by transferring technologies, methodologies and best practices to increase both the knowledge base and competencies of municipal transportation workers and decision makers.

Relationships

The BSR Program draws its strength from the many relationships created with municipal, state and federal partners. These relationships allow the Program to act as an effective agent for change among its municipal partners.

Communication

The BSR Program is designed so that the relationships developed create a network through which MassDOT efficiently communicates policy information, engineering directives and other useful information to Massachusetts’s municipalities.

One of the training programs underway in the fall of 2011 and winter of 2012 is the Complete Streets Program which will involve over 80 3-hour and 6-hour training sessions across the Commonwealth.